11. Palm Springs

11. Palm Springs

Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

At the entrance to Palm Springs, where California Highway 111 turns into Palm Canyon Drive, the smashingly restored Tramway Gas Station symbolizes the resurgence of the town and the style, re-christened as mid-century modern. The gas station was designed with a soaring "butterfly" roof in 1965 by Albert Frey, a Swiss-born architect who worked with Le Corbusier in Europe before moving here in the 1930s to become one of the town's defining architects. Boarded up and threatened with demolition three years ago, the gas station was brought back to life by two San Franciscans who have turned it into a gallery specializing in objets d'art for the garden. >> Read more Pictured: Tramway Gas Station

At the entrance to Palm Springs, where California Highway 111 turns into Palm Canyon Drive, the smashingly restored Tramway Gas Station symbolizes the resurgence of the town and the style, re-christened as mid-century modern. The gas station was designed with a soaring "butterfly" roof in 1965 by Albert Frey, a Swiss-born architect who worked with Le Corbusier in Europe before moving here in the 1930s to become one of the town's defining architects. Boarded up and threatened with demolition three years ago, the gas station was brought back to life by two San Franciscans who have turned it into a gallery specializing in objets d'art for the garden. >> Read more Pictured: Tramway Gas Station (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

At the entrance to Palm Springs, where California Highway 111 turns into Palm Canyon Drive, the smashingly restored Tramway Gas Station symbolizes the resurgence of the town and the style, re-christened as mid-century modern. The gas station was designed with a soaring "butterfly" roof in 1965 by Albert Frey, a Swiss-born architect who worked with Le Corbusier in Europe before moving here in the 1930s to become one of the town's defining architects. Boarded up and threatened with demolition three years ago, the gas station was brought back to life by two San Franciscans who have turned it into a gallery specializing in objets d'art for the garden. >> Read more Pictured: Tramway Gas Station